Adventures in Couponing

At the advice of the totally rude Lysol company who stingily refused to send me a single coupon when I took the time to write to them, I got the Sunday paper and clipped some coupons of my own. The first thing that I looked for was a coupon for a Lysol product, since advertising in the Sunday paper was the reason they refused to send me a coupon in the first place. I will confidently tell you that there were NONE. No manufacturers coupon from Lysol, and no store ad containing a Lysol product. So take that!

I did clip $10.50 worth of usable coupons from the paper. That was nothing compared to the over $300.00 in savings that was advertised on the front page, but I am being careful to only clip coupons for things that I might want or need before the expiration date. There is no point in spending money to save a portion on it while buying something that I don't need or won't use.

The first shopping trip after the clipping saved me $5.50. I (very smartly) planned my weekly meals around the coupons that I had clipped to maximize their value. The next shopping trip I save the remaining $5.00. Not bad for a $2.00 investment.

One thing that I noticed, and this might be coincidental, but it seemed as though the Oregonian had better Coupons than the Columbian. The next week, I bought the Columbian newspaper to check out the coupons and there was ONLY ONE for $.50 that was anything I might remotely need. I'm not sure if the two papers run the same coupon ads or not, but there was a definite lack of manufacturers coupons - the kind you can use in any store.

I also noticed that most supermarkets have coupons that work exclusively for their store, but that the ad for Rite Aid usually contains at least one manufacturers coupon. They have the Rite Aid logo on them, but they do say "Manufacturers Coupon" which means that almost any place which accepts coupons will take them.

Another thing I learned is that not every store has to accept coupons. Some just don't! I had no idea! I haven't run into this problem yet, but it's good to be aware that some businesses do not accept coupons, manufacturer or otherwise.

Asking for Coupons - Lysol & Clorox

I got my first answer back!

Lysol told me to check the local paper and magazine ads for coupons.

Nice, Lysol. Thanks a lot. I use Clorox anyway.

Oh, and about Clorox... Their "contact us" web page has a broken link to their email so I wasn't even able to ask them for coupons.

So, I appears that my fist attempt at asking for coupons is a bust, but I think that I will keep trying. Can't hurt, and it only takes a moment of time.

Asking for Coupons

In an effort to be frugal and save for our wedding / lives together, Travis and I have decided to use more coupons. The problem with coupons is that they are not very often for things you were going to the store for anyway. In fact, I have spent more on groceries in the past when trying to use coupons than I did when I just stuck to my normal shopping routine. Recently, I have started using coupons ONLY for things I was going to buy anyway, and only using them if any brand switches to accommodate the coupon still prove worth the savings. so far, I have saved $5 over 2 shopping trips. Not bad, as every little bit adds up, but Travis was hoping for more.

Travis has encouraged me to start extreme couponing. First of all I don't think I have the time, nor the resources to take on such an endeavor, secondly, those people rarely seem to come away with anything you can really use to feed your family for a week. What would I do with seven thousand cans of tuna and half a ton of mustard?

"Yeah but you get it for like $17.00" Says Travis.

$17.00 for a lifetime supply of tuna and mustard still doesn't get us very far in life, if my argument.

I've noticed that my grocery bills are higher when I have to restock on cleaning supplies and household items than when I simply buy food. I've decided that in order to try to cut costs I am going to ask for coupons.

I am going to write letters to the companies from which I buy my cleaning supplies and groceries and ask them for coupons to help me in this troubling economic time. The worst that can happen is that they say no. The best that can happen is that I get a crate of bleach on my doorstep - which I will most certainly use faster than half a ton of mustard. I'll keep you updated on what happens next.

FlatBread Pizza and a Movie

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Freschetta. All opinions are 100% mine.

Check the bottom of this post for a link to coupons for Freschetta FlatBread Pizza!

Last week we had a family movie night, as you all know - I LOVE family movie night. We watched The Tale of Despereaux and ate Freschetta FlatBread Pizza. While I was not very impressed with the movie (it is probably a better book), the pizza was a whole other story!

There are 4 different types of FlatBread Pizzas available, but all of them come on a delicious, crispy, thin crust and they all have just the right amount of Italian seasonings and cheeses. We chose the Zesty Italian pizza, which has peperoni, sausage, and Genoa salami, mozzarella and asiago cheeses, and a red sauce with just a little zest to it. Also available are Roasted Garlic & Spinach, Peperoni, and a 5 Cheese Pizza.

I would have liked to have the Spinach and Garlic Pizza myself. it has Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese with a creamy garlic sauce. The boys like the red sauce though, so we compromised. I have to say that I didn't feel like I was missing out. The Zesty Italian was great tasting and was just the right amount for us, plus it costs way less than delivery and it's hot when you eat it, not cooled off from being in the delivery guy's car.

When I pulled the pizza out of the box, it didn't look very impressing. The toppings had shifted in the box and were all on one side of the pizza. I spread them out and popped it in the oven. Since the pizzas have a thing flatbread crust, the cook pretty quick; ours were done in less than 10 minutes. After the first bite, I was sold.

I love the flavor of the sausage, and it didn't taste like it had been frozen. There were great seasonings on the pizza, and the cheeses were really tasty. This is the best pizza I have ever had from a freezer, and that is the truth! I even went out and got more for another time. When I picked them up out of the freezer at the grocery store, Caleb let out a cry of glee, "Pizza!"

Here is a website with the different pizzas listed and a a coupon for $1 any Freschetta Pizza, but I do recomend the flatbread for sure!

Click for coupon